Live Life Team
For years, alternative therapies had been ignored by physicians. But after years of experimentation, alternative medicine has gained acceptance in the medical field. Some health providers believe that conventional medicine oftentimes needs the assistance of alternative medicine. Several signs show that patients currently prefer acupuncture, natural products, massage, and meditation as alternative therapies.
Today, a different approach of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is applied to treat patients. According to Dr. Ali Keshavarzian, a gastroenterologist at the Rush University Medical University, “CAM is looking at a patient as a human being, rather than a disease”.
It is ironic that the success of alternative therapies depends on the people that strictly opposed it in previous years. Although many in the medical field still believe that medical treatments require a certain scientific basis, they may not deny the fact that alternative medicine and practises show very significant results when integrated to conventional medicines that already exists. For instance, when a patient suffers from stress, the physician may recommend relaxation techniques. A patient with acute diarrhoea may be given probiotics, while pain may be treated with acupuncture. In some cases, integrative doctors may recommend exercise, fish oil, or nutritional changes for a patient rather than suggesting bypass surgery.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine increased its funding grants for research in CAM. Since 1999, the institute has funded over 2,200 research studies.
